REFORM Alliance is honored to launch the National Community Partnership Grant Program for 2023!
REFORM Alliance aims to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing.
The unjust re-imprisonment of Meek Mill sparked a movement that ultimately led to the creation of REFORM Alliance. In November 2017, a Philadelphia judge gave Mill a controversial two to four-year prison sentence for minor technical probation violations. That shocking sentence spurred the international #FreeMeek movement and ultimately resulted in Mill’s release in April 2018. During this process, Michael Rubin, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, Van Jones, and Robert Kraft were among several leaders to publicly advocate for Meek’s release and acknowledge that problems with the criminal justice system extended well beyond his case. After Meek’s release, he and a group of influential leaders in business and philanthropy came together and committed to change laws that keep millions of others trapped in this flawed system, launching REFORM Alliance.
There are currently about 6 million people in the justice system in the United States and more than 4 million people who are currently on probation and parole. Every five and a half minutes, someone is sent to prison for a technical violation, costing taxpayers $2.8 billion each year. Parole and probation have become a web of confusing and ineffective conditions that keep people trapped in a revolving door from probation and parole to prison, excluding people reentering society from wellness and economic stability. We believe that the United States can significantly reduce the number of people under government control while dramatically increasing community safety.
In recognition of the critical role that frontline service providers and community-based organizations play in creating an ecosystem of support for communities most impacted by harmful criminal justice policies, REFORM Alliance is issuing this RFP to solicit grant applications from qualified organizations for its FY23 Grant program.
If Selected, organizations will become official partners of REFORM Alliance and work in collaboration to support the passage and implementation of parole and probation legislation, advocate for administrative changes at the state and county level, and/or support system-impacted individuals by providing direct services.
REFORM’s goal is for people to reenter society with dignity, to remove barriers to their financial independence, and equip them with the tools to succeed, all while making families and communities safer and stronger.
Our goal is to help and uplift organizations that provide direct services, support, and solutions for people impacted by the criminal justice system. REFORM is seeking partners that shift the narrative around community supervision and the people impacted by it. Together, we would collaborate on mutually beneficial activities that grow large networks of community supervision REFORMers such as list sharing, collaboration on events, wrap-around services, courtwatching, and amplifying the voices of system-impacted individuals through storytelling.
REFORM seeks proposals from organizations that would be willing to engage their membership list (listserve) on state or federal legislation (parole/probation) or are providing direct services for justice impacted individuals. Specifically:
- In the following states (Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, California, New York, Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee)
Timeline
- February 27, 2023: RFP released to organizations.
- February 27 - March 24, 2023 : Requests for Information (RFI) may be submitted. Requests for Information (RFI) may be submitted via the zoomgrants link ONLY. RFI’s submitted after 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on March 24, 2023 will not receive a response.
- March 8, 2023, 3:00pm Pacific Standard Time: Live Informational Session - will record to send to all applicants if unable to attend.
- March 24, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time: Deadline for Proposals. Proposals must be timely received electronically via Zoom Grants and include all information requested.
- March 18 - March 31, 2023: Evaluation of Proposals. REFORM reserves the right to contact individual proposers to request revised proposals or more information.
- Week of April 17, 2023: REFORM notifies each organization by e-mail whether its proposal was selected. * The email will come from ZoomGrants - please ensure to check your junk mail.
- May 3 and May 5, 2023 at 6:00pm ET: Onboarding Training/Webinar